quote:"[on Ptolemy] He's got this sort of religious feeling at the limits of his knowledge, and this is a trend that will continue for thousands of years to follow this...[and] this quote I just read to you is Ptolemy invoking intelligent design."
Tyson goes through Ptolemy, Galileo, Newton and other great minds in this history of science and what happened when they reached the limits of their knowledge. He outlines where and how these men reached the limits of their knowledge, and how they pretty regularly invoked the concept of intelligent design and a creator in order to explain it. "Intelligent design is basically a god of the gaps."
He also talks about the religiosity of the population and scientists.
quote:"...As you become more scientific, yes, you're religiosity drops off, but it asymptotes, but not at zero, to some other level."
He also goes through the history of scientific discovery in different parts of the world. He speaks of the period of great discovery in the Islamic world from 800 - 1000 AD, and then how it was cut off and never recovered. Then of Europe during the scientific revolution, and of the USA during this century and how we may be on the edge of a shift, where "revelation replaces investigation."
I love the way Tyson speaks and thinks. He has the same passion that Sagan did, and the same sort of open, genuine interest in the mystery and the humanity in these discoveries and the understanding of our universe.
Posts: 1711 | Registered: Jun 2004
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I'm such a huge fan of Neil deGrasse Tyson. He used to be a favorite guest of Jon Stewart on the Daily Show, which is where I got my first real exposure. I went out and bought Death by Black Hole and was fascinated. The next semester I took an astronomy class and was even more fascinated. If I was a math-inclined person at all, I would have changed my major to physics, but I'm far more interested in the conceptual parts I guess, rather than the actual math, but man, astronomy is just so cool. I can't believe how much information you can get out of measuring wavelengths in light. My mind was blown on a daily basis in that class.
It must be nearly impossible to not be interested by astronomy and to be infected by the outpouring of enthusiasm that man gives off when talking about astronomy. He's just so excited about it, and so smart, and frames the history of astronomy, and the future, and concepts so perfectly. He's on my top five list of people I want to meet before I die.
I think I just realized that I'm a Neil deGrasse Tyson fanboy, and I never knew it.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I love it when he defers to someone in the audience because he knows he isn't sure of his facts.
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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For anyone that enjoyed the above talk, it was from a few years back, and part of a conference called Beyond Belief that was put on by the Salk Institute and The Science Network. It was a collection of mostly scientists, authors, and philosophers all talking about religion and science. Not only did they all give talks, but then panel discussion were also held after. It was interesting to see a room of mostly like minded individuals have such a spirited debate and discussion.
I think it totals roughly 15 hours of video, but I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone interested. It was held two more times as well and you can find the links to the other two conferences through the "Beyond Belief" link on the right hand side of the page I linked to. All three years were very entertaining and engaging(if you're predisposed to liking this sort of thing).
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: I'm such a huge fan of Neil deGrasse Tyson. He used to be a favorite guest of Jon Stewart on the Daily Show, which is where I got my first real exposure. I went out and bought Death by Black Hole and was fascinated. The next semester I took an astronomy class and was even more fascinated. If I was a math-inclined person at all, I would have changed my major to physics, but I'm far more interested in the conceptual parts I guess, rather than the actual math, but man, astronomy is just so cool. I can't believe how much information you can get out of measuring wavelengths in light. My mind was blown on a daily basis in that class.
It must be nearly impossible to not be interested by astronomy and to be infected by the outpouring of enthusiasm that man gives off when talking about astronomy. He's just so excited about it, and so smart, and frames the history of astronomy, and the future, and concepts so perfectly. He's on my top five list of people I want to meet before I die.
I think I just realized that I'm a Neil deGrasse Tyson fanboy, and I never knew it.
posted
Me too. I think those videos are great! Well, I don't really care for the one with Jane Goodall. People probably think it odd that me, as a Christian Creationist, can appreciate those videos, but I just think that God created science, too.
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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White Whale, have you heard the stereotypes about Jewish mothers? Well they're all true. What you haven't heard about is what lengths the children of these Jewish mothers are willing to go to, to avoid their guilty wrath. Tread lightly...very lightly. Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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My two-year-old loves it, as do I. I think our favorite part is "that makes me want to grab people in the street and say have you heard this??" or the "billions and billions of stars, billions and billions of specks" part. She also really likes Sagan making whale sounds at the beginning of "A Glorious Dawn."
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